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Bits and Pieces Of DMSP-13 No Threat To ESA Mission

Bits and Pieces Of DMSP-13 No Threat To ESA Mission

ESOC serves as the Operations Control Centre for ESA missions, and hosts our Main Control Room (shown here), combined Dedicated Control Rooms for specific missions and the ESTRACK Control Centre - which manages our worldwide ground tracking stations. ESOC also hosts facilities for satellite communications, navigation, networks and other special functions. Photo is courtesy of ESA—j. Mai.

[SatNews] After studying the recent explosive break-up of a U.S. satellite, ESA space debris experts have concluded this event does not increase the collision risk to nearby ESA missions in any meaningful way.

The U.S. Air Force’s Defense Meteorological Satellite Program Flight 13 (DMSP-13) broke up into some 40 pieces on February 3rd. The military weather satellite was in a LEO at more than 800 km altitude.

“The event is not considered major,” said Holger Krag of ESA’s Space Debris Office. “Should the reported number of fragments stabilize at this level, we can consider it to be within the range of the past 250 on-orbit fragmentation events. For our missions—with CryoSat-2 being closest to the event altitude—we do not expect any meaningful risk due to the event.”